Extra Chapter: Battle History of the Ghost Unit — Take Control of Enemy Headquarters!

Shuuichi Arakawa’s Point of View

We were holed up in a building on the verge of collapse in a town that’d been left in ruin.

At the start of the operation there’d been 1,200 of us, but after an intense counterattack, we now numbered fewer than 100. Only fourteen of us were wearing properly functioning powered suits, myself included. The rest were equipped with just reinforced exoskeletons or were fighting unarmored.

We’d completely lost control of the skies to the enemy forces. The ground forces that we’d expected would assist in our attack on headquarters were not responding, so they had probably been annihilated already.

“It feels as though we’re powerless here...” I tried to think of a course of action, exhaling smoke from the cigarette I was holding in my mouth.

My adjutant Louis approached me to say, “I have a report. I’ve summarized what clear information we have about our current situation. Firstly, we have only fourteen usable powered suits, and of those, just six have enough remaining battery power to engage in combat. We have lost approximately 80% of our heavy weapons, and the 30-millimeter rapid fire rocket launchers and the anti-powered suit rifles that we were relying on have very little remaining ammunition. Morale is high amongst our soldiers, but only 82 of them are still capable of fighting. Fifteen are heavily wounded. The squad that broke off isn’t responding, so we can’t include them as part of our combat strength. On the basis of the above information, I recommend fully withdrawing from the battle area.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have permission to withdraw,” I said. “Besides, we aren’t going to receive any backup, so how would we be able to escape? We can’t be aided by long-range missiles because our communications are down.”

Louis simply said, “My apologies,” and looked out at the area outside of the building. I also took a look outside as if influenced by his behavior. Unfortunately, my view out of the windows was clouded by smoke and soot from the town’s burning buildings.

I remained there gazing out the window until my cigarette had burned down to the filter. Then a thought occurred to me. “Louis...”

“Yes?”

“Can’t we use the equipment fitted to the destroyed power suits? If I remember correctly, the suit that Cote was using had a recoilless rifle on its shoulder. Couldn’t we remove that, and then install it on the Jeep that has the heavy machine-gun with no bullets left?”

“I think it’s possible, though we’d need someone to manually load the next round. It makes sense. We could give that job to someone who isn’t wearing a powered suit. If it works, that would definitely give us some more firepower.”

Louis had started to act before he’d even finished his sentence. He ordered those capable of moving to remove equipment from the destroyed powered suits.

Okay. We’ve done something about our lack of firepower. Now we just need to figure out how to attack enemy headquarters so this operation will be a success...

Even if it wasn’t going to be possible to take control of headquarters, we had to at least recover some valuable information, or the mission would be a failure.

I moved away from the window to talk to a group who were smoking cigarettes. “Hey! One of you must have a paper map of the area with you. The electronic jamming is so bad that my terminal doesn’t even work properly. And my map got burnt in the fighting earlier.”

They began searching the pockets of their combat jackets to see if they’d brought one with them. Several of them looked uncomfortable, as if they’d lost theirs or hadn’t even brought a map in the first place.

Fortunately, a sniper named Jonathan was able to produce the map that he’d brought. He removed it from a thick waterproof film and spread it out before me.

“I’ve been making notes here and there, so it might be difficult to understand. If it’s good enough, then please take it.”

“Thanks.”

Using a drum canister as a makeshift table, I spread out the map and checked the distance between our current location and the headquarters. We seemed to be ten kilometers east of where the target was. I was looking for buildings and facilities in the area that might be of some use to us. I noticed a mark had been drawn roughly eight kilometers north of our position.

Not knowing what to make of it, I asked the map’s owner, Jonathan, “What does this mark mean? It’s different from the mark used to indicate emergency extraction points.”

“That’s a place where the enemy are storing their equipment. I got into a habit of making that kind of marking back when I was part of the United Nations Army’s scout sniper team.”

I’d forgotten that Jonathan was an S-ranked sniper. It was only then that I remembered the excitement it had caused in training when he’d been able to shoot through a watermelon from 600 meters away without using a scope. But I had more important things to think about.

“When you say ‘equipment,’ do you mean there’ll be some sort of transportation like a truck or helicopter? Will there be anything at all that we can use?”

“I do remember that I sighted three large trucks and several motorcycles from a support position two hours earlier.”

So we can at least secure transportation.

I lit my second cigarette and inhaled deeply before making a decision.

“All right! Listen up, everyone! We’re incapable of fighting any longer. That’s why we need to quickly begin withdrawing from this battlefield. Fortunately, Jonathan has marked the location of an enemy storehouse on his map. If we attack that location using our remaining strength, we can secure a means of escape! The enemy will probably be focusing their attention on the area around their headquarters right now. The team defending the storehouse is expected to be very small. We’ll fit the heavy weapons that we’ve removed from the damaged suits to four of your working suits, and we’ll strike using those four suits. Louis will take command over the attack.”

I stopped talking for a while to allow my subordinates to make sense of the information for themselves.

I waited in silence for a full minute before, as expected, several of my subordinates became doubtful and raised their hands to ask questions.

“I have a question. You say that four powered suits are going to participate in the attack, but we have fourteen suits here that are still operational. And what about you, commander? Are you not participating in the operation?”

“That’s right. I’m not participating,” I said. “I’m going to attempt a final attack on the enemy headquarters to distract attention away from the retreating team. Sorry to have to do this, but nine others besides myself are going to have to draw a short straw. If possible, I’d like to limit my request to those who don’t have family...”

As I spoke, I was surprised by my own words. I was asking for someone to willingly accompany me in an attack that would surely result in death. I feared that no one would volunteer and I’d be forced to choose who would accompany me. If it comes to that, perhaps I should go alone? If I pack as many explosives into my suit as possible, I should be able to buy enough time by myself.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, several of my subordinates suddenly began laughing. “Commander, I’ve thought this for a long time, but you’ve really got more muscles than brains. No one here wants to withdraw. Just ask anyone.”

“You shouldn’t even have to ask,” another soldier said. “After they’ve given us such a beating, there’s no way we’re running home with our tails between our legs.”

“Let’s show them who they’re messing with! A frontal attack is the last thing they’ll expect, so why not give it a shot?”

You guys think I’m the idiot?! I might have to knock some sense into these morons. I threw away the cigarette I’d been smoking and was about to start yelling, but then Louis, who had been quietly standing to one side, shook his head and began to speak.

“Commander, it’s no good,” he said. “No matter how angry you are, no one here is willing to withdraw. Whatever happens, we’ll continue to fight under your command to the very end. What you need to do now is command us to attack.”

Louis picked up his rifle with a grim smile on his face.

I was at loss for words. My wife Miki was always telling me that I was an idiot, but if I was an idiot, these people were imbeciles. If they’re willing to fight until the end, then I wouldn’t hold back. Let’s do this together.

“All right! Let’s fight together until the end!! Our target is enemy headquarters! We’ll charge on their headquarters until we’re down to the very last man!!”

They all responded to my command with a salute. I took a look at the faces of the greatest subordinates I could ask for as I lit my final cigarette.

**

Tracer bullets from a machine gun were flying over my head. Twenty minutes after attempting the attack on headquarters, the outcome was what we should have predicted from the start. We were pinned down by intense machine gun fire in front of the main entranceway.

Having a small number of allies split up while fighting against an already superior enemy seemed to have been a mistake. Squad B had made an attack on the front to secure a way into the headquarters, and we’d been communicating by short-range radio. However, our radios were now picking up nothing but static.

“Commander, I think Squad B has been wiped out,” Louis informed me. “Our only hope is Squad C and the rocket launcher they’re carrying... If they survived the shelling, they should be about ready to provide supporting fire.”

“You’re right,” I said. “If they don’t provide covering fire within the next five minutes, I intend to put up a smokescreen so we can force our way in. If we don’t do something soon, they’ll level this whole area, and it’ll be all over.”

Louis nodded in response to my instruction and began to prepare a smoke bomb that he produced from a chest pocket.

We’re counting on you Squad C! If you don’t hurry, we won’t be able to wait any longer.

I got lower to the ground as I felt the vibrations of nearby mortar impact, and I felt ready to pray.

Finally, we heard the radio transmission we’d been waiting for: “This is Squad C! I’m in position, and ready to fire. But I’m the only one left alive after we were shelled. I’d like to change our original plan: Instead of offering covering fire to control the area, I’d like to destroy the front entrance of the headquarters! As soon as I’ve fired a rocket, the enemy will probably determine my location, so one rocket is all the support I can offer. Once the entranceway has been destroyed, Squad A can rush in. I hope you’re okay with that!”

In addition to the sound of his voice, I could hear that gunshots were already being fired on the area around the last surviving squad member. It seemed we weren’t the only ones in a perilous situation.

I prepared for the impact of the rocket and readied myself to leap out at any moment. A few seconds later, there was a great rumbling sound and the entrance was blown apart, opening up the way ahead!

“Create a smokescreen! Let’s go. Everyone move out!” I yelled.

We charged into the remains of the entrance, which was still smoking from the explosion, and we charged toward the control room. A further six of my subordinates were taken down on the way there, but I remained focused on constantly moving forward. We soon reached a large door.

I looked back to speak some words of encouragement to my subordinates, who were down to just five men. “If we can break through the hall on the other side of this door, we’ll have reached the final stretch to the control room! We’re almost there. Don’t get careless now.”

We blew open the door and we entered the hall. Inside, dozens of fully armed soldiers were aiming their guns at us. In the center stood Miki. She was holding a bulletproof shield and was protected by a powered suit.

“You did your best, Shuuichi. But I win,” Miki said with a smile.

The instant Miki snapped her fingers, Clare’s voice could be heard across the entire battleground—the United Nations Large-Scale Training Facility.

“Total annihilation of the attacking side confirmed. Large-Scale Exercise A-52 has now concluded. All participating squads should make haste and return to their standby positions to begin debriefing.”

At the sound of her voice, Louis, who was “dead,” slowly climbed to his feet and walked over to me. He shrugged his shoulders and breathed a sigh.

Don’t sigh at me... It’s a miracle we got so far after being so hopelessly outgunned! And I’ve never been in a training exercise where we didn’t have air support or even ground support.

“Louis, don’t look so down,” I said. “We never could have won.”

“But...”

“Save your breath. Was there even a point to this stupid training exercise? It was ridiculous to think that we could turn the situation around with just the firepower we had on hand. Withdrawing was the only sensible option.”

I was trying to cheer Louis up, but I made sure I was speaking loud enough for Miki to hear. Miki had been the one who had suggested this training exercise to the top brass in the first place, but I had no idea why she’d done it.

What was the point in fighting when the situation was so completely hopeless? I scowled at Miki and waited for her to explain herself.

“Please don’t scowl at me like that,” she said. “I understand how illogical this exercise seemed. But it was Kouki who had the idea for this training exercise.”

“What?! He came up with this exercise? What’s he expecting from us?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “A while ago, he looked at a manual while visiting a self-defense force facility with me. Afterward, he was absorbed in inputting something to his personal terminal. When I took a look, the content was the training exercise we performed today.”

If Kouki is involved, does that mean that this training exercise has some important meaning? I don’t think he’s the type to waste time on something meaningless. The state of world affairs had recently left me feeling uneasy. Damn. In that case, the top brass should have told me this from the start! I don’t know about the other troops participating, but if we’d known Kouki was involved, that would have changed everything about how we’d approached this exercise. But now isn’t the time for this. We need to start the debriefing so we can smooth out the problems we encountered this time.

After promising Miki we’d eat dinner together later, I hurried back to the standby point.

In 2097, a year after this training exercise, armed conflict broke out in a small country in South America. The United Nations immediately decided to send in their standing army and dispatched troops to the area. The battlefield and the strategy used were remarkably similar to “Large-Scale Training Exercise Case A-52.”

As a result, the head of every nation came to fear the name of “Kouki Arakawa.”

The story of how this led to the signing of the Arakawa Pact in 2102 was well-known in the dark corners of the world.